MRN

Voters in Wisconsin's 94th assembly district have Mike Huebsch to blame for a special election today. It was clear that the former speaker of the assembly was destined for a spot in the Scott Walker administration as soon as he was re-elected to the assembly seat he'd held for nearly 20 years and Walker was elected to governor last November. Now, Huebsch is Walker's Secretary of Administration and republican John Lautz and democrat Steve Doyle are vying for shot to replace him in the assembly. One of three special elections being held in the state today.

An exercise for those contemplating operating a city on limited funds:

This is your problem: You've got a million dollars to spend. You need a new road grader for a quarter million dollars. And some new police cars, a two stage snow blower, a new fire truck and whole bunch of other stuff. Money goes pretty quickly, as La Crosse city public works director Dale Hexom can tell you. He's on the board of public works which has just this week shaved down city department equipment requests from $2.5 million to an even million. Hexom says the police and fire departments don't necessarily get priority on their requests. Just depends, he says, on which city department has the greatest need.

A guy nabbed for dealing marijuana in La Crosse this week-end might have gotten away with it. But a cop thought 30 year-old Holton Carte from Milwaukee looked suspiciously like he was urinating on the side of a building on Pearl Street at 2:30 on Saturday morning. Not unusual at bartime in downtown La Crosse. But Carter was apparently just trying to hide the bag of pot in his hand. And the several bags police found in his pockets. Carter faces a charge for the drug dealing plus an additional charge for being close to a park and the jail while he was in the process.

A 28 year old white male is dead tonight after a shootout with Tomah Police. According to Tomah Police Chief, Wes Revels, around 6:25, officers were conducting a follow up investigation into a drive-by shooting which occurred just after 1:30 today in Tomah where 3 shots were fired into a home near the airport. Officers initiated a traffic stop on a pick up truck near the intersection of Kilbourn Avenue and East Saratoga in the City of Tomah.

Revels says a 28 year old white male got out of the truck and immediately fired upon officers. One Tomah Police Department Officer received a gunshot wound. The unidentified man returned to his truck. Officers requested assistance from the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department, the Wisconsin State Patrol, the Juneau County Sheriff’s Department, the Sparta Police Department, the Tomah Area Ambulance Service and the Tomah Fire Department. In addition, officers requested the use of the Bearcat Armored Vehicle from the LaCrosse County Sheriff’s Department.

The incident was contained until the arrival of the Bearcat Armored Vehicle. Once on scene, the Bearcat Armored Vehicle was used to safely approach the suspect and his vehicle. The man was located in his vehicle, deceased.

The Division of Criminal Investigation and the Wisconsin Crime Lab are assisting the Tomah Police Department in this investigation in consultation with the Monroe County District Attorney’s Office.

The unnamed officer was transported to a LaCrosse hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

A press conference will be held at the Tomah Police Department tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. in the Multi-Purpose Room.

Supporters of gun rights in Wisconsin are looking for some clarification. The waters got a little muddied in the state this week when prosecutors in Milwaukee refused to charge a two truck driver for illegally carrying a gun after he shot two would-be robbers. Onalaska's Hubert Hoffman, vice president of Wisconsin Carry, says it makes no sense that carrying a firearm in the state is illegal right up until the point you get assaulted. He says lawmakers should settle some of the inconsistencies in gun laws by simply passing a bill allowing people in the state to carry concealed weapons

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